


Hope

by TeaRoses



Category: Genshiken
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-07
Updated: 2010-03-07
Packaged: 2017-10-07 18:56:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/68155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaRoses/pseuds/TeaRoses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Saki and Madarame head for the beach to try to find Madarame a girlfriend.  Sequel to Consolation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hope

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for the 30_kisses LiveJournal for the theme "the sound of waves."

Madarame looked into the mirror. He had always prided himself on having the scrawny physique of a true anime fan, but maybe he did look ridiculous in a bathing suit. This was his big trip to the beach with Kasukabe, and she was only going to look at him and think "otaku."

But it wasn't really a big trip, anyway. He sighed a little remembering how she had invited him.

"We should go to the beach!" she had said spontaneously one day as they stood on a university rooftop.

He had looked at her in shock. Was she inviting him out on a date? For some reason she had become friendly with him after he had been kind to her when she broke up with Kohsaka. No matter how many times he told himself that was all it was, sometimes he just couldn't help hoping.

"Do you know what you need, Madarame-san?" she had continued.

"I hope you're not going to say a tan," he had replied.

"A girlfriend!"

Thoughts had run rapidly through his head. Could she really be asking him to be her boyfriend? Was that even possible? Well, she had been pretty forward when she went after Kohsaka, so maybe she was always like that. And she hadn't dated anyone else since she broke up with him, so she wasn't taken yet. He was still standing there speechless when she looked at him curiously.

"Madarame-san?"

If he was going to be her boyfriend, maybe she should call him Harunobu. He had been about to tell her that when she had continued.

"We should go to the beach next week. With all the girls there even you could find a girlfriend."

Deflated, he had muttered sarcastically, "Even me, huh?"

Kasukabe had actually looked uncomfortable with that and said something about how shy he was around girls.

"What if they just think you're my girlfriend?" he asked.

This was her cue for a cutting remark about how impossible that was, but for once she skipped it.

"Maybe they'll be jealous, then," she said, not looking him in the eye.

In the end he had agreed to go, but now it was night before the trip and he had just about changed his mind. The only thing that kept him from phoning Kasukabe and canceling was the prospect of seeing her in a bathing suit again.

When he met her at the beach, that sight did seem worth it. She looked gorgeous in her white bikini, and unlike last year he couldn't stop looking at her. The sun on her face was beautiful too, even if she still had that slightly bitter smile.

The beach itself was less interesting. There were so many people there that the noise almost drowned out the sound of the waves.

"I'm going in the water," he announced to Kasukabe, suddenly nervous at standing so close to her when she was showing so much of her skin.

"Wait, wait, I think that girl is looking at you," she said.

He looked in the direction she was pointing. There, near two teenagers kissing behind an umbrella, were two girls playing with a beach ball. The one facing their direction did seem to be looking toward him.

"There's no way she's looking at me," he said anyway.

Suddenly the beach ball landed near him, thrown too far.

"See!" said Kasukabe triumphantly. "The oldest trick there is. Now you just bring it back."

Reaching toward his face, she took his glasses off. "You look better without your glasses."

"You look fuzzier without my glasses," he muttered, but he picked up the ball.

When he brought it over, he could see that the girl really was pretty. She was short and a little plump but in a very cute way. He smiled at her, if only because he knew that Kasukabe was watching. After a moment of awkwardness he introduced himself, and the two girls gave their names, which he forgot immediately.

"So..." he began. "Do you girls like anime?" Kasukabe would kill him for saying that, but she couldn't hear.

The second girl wrinkled her nose said she didn't. But the one who had been looking at him smiled and said, "I like Kujibiki Unbalance. Have you seen that?"

Madarame looked at her for a moment. She did have a nice smile, and if he told her his theory about the symbolism in episode seven she probably wouldn't roll her eyes in boredom. And he was lonely, and he really did need a girlfriend. But she wasn't Kasukabe.

He shook his head. "No, I haven't. Have a good day."

As he walked back to Kasukabe, he wondered how angry she would be that he hadn't talked longer with those girls. But when he looked at her, he didn't really care. He had no hope with her, and in rational moments he knew that, but maybe some things were better than hope.


End file.
